Eldritch Horror Theatre

”There’s no rush. We have plenty of time.”

Having delivered this startling remark, Bai Jinting neither called for backup nor attempted to flee. Instead, he stood up and walked to the edge of the viewing platform.

”This spot offers the best view in the entire White Tower.”

With his back to Fu Qian, seemingly completely unconcerned for his own life, he raised a hand and pointed down.

”Want to come take a look? Even in the Archipelago, such a grand spectacle is rare.”

”Indeed. I already felt that enthusiasm.”

Faced with this abnormal behavior, Fu Qian didn’t rush to attack. He simply stood and strolled over to the edge, adopting the casual posture of an old friend.

He had to admit, the vantage point was excellent. The entire interior of the White Tower was laid bare before them.

In just this short span of time, the scene below had grown even more chaotic and bloody.

Coupled with the building’s bizarre structure, it formed a picturesque hellscape.”How does it feel?”

Bai Jinting asked.

”Vibrant.”

Fu Qian’s answer clearly stunned Bai Jinting for a moment, but then he burst into uproarious laughter.

”Well said! This scene is the ultimate manifestation of life’s vitality.”

”In a sense, this was my original intention when establishing the Archipelago.”

”Shouldn’t your original intention for the Archipelago have been to play at human modification?”

Since the man had such a strong desire to express himself, Fu Qian decisively chose to gather a bit more information.

”That was only the goal of certain people. To me, it was merely a means to an end.”

”These certain people you mentioned—do you mean the Rebirth Club?”

”Exactly. I hear you’ve been in contact with them quite a bit lately. Did that bunch ever tell you they once planned to graft a special limb onto me to grant me immortality?”

”No. But immortality is certainly a massive temptation for an ordinary person.”

”Yes. I was getting on in years at the time, and the fear of death was inevitable. In fact, I agreed to their terms very quickly, which led to the plan for this Archipelago.”

”Their technology wasn’t mature enough back then, so I expended a tremendous amount of manpower and resources to build the Laboratory outside for them.

”At the same time, to attract more people, I used various methods to forge this place into a degenerate paradise, a land where all taboos are lifted.

”Everyone who enters the Archipelago easily has the restlessness deep in their hearts awakened, thereby providing an endless stream of test subjects.”

’So that’s how it is. The origin of the Archipelago isn’t surprising at all. In fact, I’ve even read your White Tower Codex.’

Fu Qian noted inwardly.

”You said ’once planned.’ It seems you ultimately didn’t accept the modification?”

Recalling Lu Ming’s deep resentment toward Bai Jinting, it was obvious that their relationship had grown rather tense later on.

”That’s right. I didn’t accept it in the end. Do you know why?”

Bai Jinting asked, his gaze fixed straight ahead.

”Why stop at the very last moment, when everything was finally ready?”

”According to my life experience,”

Fu Qian took on the tone of a seasoned veteran.

”Humanity’s ability to resist temptation is incredibly poor. Most of the time, the only thing that can make someone reject one temptation is an even greater one. Did you already obtain what you wanted during this process?”

”You really are a smart man.”

Bai Jinting looked at Fu Qian with open admiration.

”Much better than those old geezers in the Rebirth Club.”

”Even now, they still don’t understand why I refused to cooperate, going so far as to pull a lot of petty tricks to test me.”

Bai Jinting scoffed.

”It was always just mutual exploitation anyway. They had long since lost their greatest value to me.”

”And then you found the demigod Yibu?”

”Exactly. I couldn’t just kick them out directly, so I paid a massive price to invite Yibu here, and I handed a considerable share of power over to him. He didn’t disappoint; he solved a lot of headaches for me.”

”However, as for this ridiculous title of Demigod...”

Bai Jinting let out a cold laugh.

”Mortals have incredibly poor imaginations. A mere human who can summon wind and rain dares to falsely claim the title of a Deity?”

”The reason I rejected Lu Ming and his group’s proposal was because—”

He threw his arms wide to embrace the sky.

”One day, I brushed against an unfathomable, magnificent entity. It allowed me to see the true essence of the world, and just how crude this so-called Transcendent Tier power really is.”

’What absolute charlatan vibes.’

Seeing Bai Jinting getting more and more into character, Fu Qian graciously chose not to interrupt him.

”An entity truly worthy of being called a God would never possess those mundane mortal emotions. It wouldn’t even care about your goals. It’s simply that your actions drew Its gaze, and It casually tossed down a reaction.”

”And on that day, standing atop the White Tower, I received Its gaze. I obtained Its protection.”

”Now do you understand why I said ’again’?”

Bai Jinting looked at Fu Qian.

”Because I know with absolute certainty that, not long ago, you charged up here exactly like you just did and crushed me to pieces.”

”But it’s a pity. Here, you will never be able to kill me.”

”It’s best to stay humble. The last guy who said that to me ended up as a headless corpse.”

Fu Qian retorted, analyzing the situation simultaneously.

”You used the phrase ’here.’ It seems that even though everything looks exactly the same, this likely isn’t the original Archipelago anymore. So what is it... an illusion? A dream?”

”Why couldn’t the original have been the dream, and this the waking reality?”

Bai Jinting wore a mocking expression.

”It’s not impossible, but I just ran a little test.”

Fu Qian extended his middle finger.

”This is a little gadget that can pull people into dreams. I tried it a minute ago, and before the dream could even spread, it popped like a soap bubble.”

”That’s highly unusual. So, if I had to guess, I’d say we’re in a dream right now.”

”Haha!”

Bai Jinting paused in surprise for a second, then burst into uproarious laughter.

”Good guess. This is indeed a special dreamscape. Your act of killing me just now plunged the entire Archipelago into this place.

”Like I said, I cannot die here.

”Any attempt to kill me will just reset you to that moment from before. Not only can you not kill me, you can’t even escape this place.”

”You have two choices now. First, try to kill me to confirm whether I’m lying. Or, following traditional logic, you could attempt to leave the dream by committing suicide. But I can’t guarantee that will work either.”

”I said it from the start: you have plenty of time. You can think it over for a while. There’s no need to rush your decision.”

”I don’t need that long.”

Looking at the triumphant King of the White Tower, Fu Qian shook his head.

”I already made up my mind the moment you said ’again.’”

Fu Qian flicked his fingers continuously, sending Air Bullets whistling through the air.

”So you chose the most brainless method after all?”

Bai Jinting let out a disdainful sneer before he was blown to pieces once more.